Sara Duterte: Documents are with lawyers, patients under care

Vice President Sara Duterte on Friday thanked the people whom she said were helping the affected personnel of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) amid the “ongoing crisis” it faced. 

“The Office of the Vice President would like to express our deepest gratitude to all the lawyers, doctors, and other professionals who are helping the personnel affected by the ongoing crisis in the office,” she said in a video message posted on Facebook. 

“The legal documents are now with the lawyers, and the patients are under the expert care of healthcare personnel,” Duterte added. 

The OVP and the Department of Education under Duterte are the subject of a House inquiry as regards their disbursement of confidential funds.

During the hearings of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, two OVP officials were rushed to the hospital—her chief-of-staff Zuleika Lopez and OVP special disbursement officer Gina Acosta. 

Lopez was transferred to the Veterans Memorial Medical Center after she got emotional following the House’s order to transfer her to the Correctional Institution for Women amid the contempt order against her. 

Acosta was rushed to the same hospital while being asked about the signatories on receipts used to justify the disbursement of P125 million confidential funds of the OVP in 2022.

“All these back office support shall allow me and other personnel to focus on the OVP thanksgiving, year-end activities, office utilization review, and the calendar year 2025 planning,” said Duterte. 

“We assure the Filipino people that even in times of crisis and without resources, we shall stand tall, strong and resilient in our service to the Filipino people,” she added. “We will not break.” —NB, GMA Integrated News